A citizen lays flowers on the grave of Park Jong-chul, a student activist who was tortured and killed under the military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, on the 31st anniversary of his death, Sunday. The college student’s death sparked nationwide protests that brought democratic elections to Korea, and is depicted in the box office hit movie “1987: When the Day Comes.” / Yonhap

National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun bangs the gavel to cancel a legislative vote on President Moon Jae-in’s constitutional revision bill, Thursday, after opposition lawmakers refused to participate in the voting. President Moon submitted the revision bill to the Assembly on March 26 that automatically required a vote within 60 days. However, the Assembly failed to meet quorum for the vote, which needed participation of two-thirds, or 192 of 293 lawmakers. However, only lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea cast their ballots while members of opposition parties, who have opposed to Moon’s revision bill, boycotted the vote. / Yonhap

Reporters and members of the government's Sewol Investigation Committee inspect the salvaged ferry Sewol at Mokpo New Port, 410 kilometers southwest of Seoul, Thursday. The inside of the vessel, which was lifted upright on May 10 after being hoisted from the seabed last year, was open to the press for the first time. The 6,825-ton ferry carrying 476 passengers capsized off the southwestern coast on April 16, 2014, killing 304 people -- most of them high school students on a field trip to Jeju Island. / Yonhap

Police officers guard the residence of former President Chun Doo-hwan in Seoul, Monday. / YonhapBy Kang Seung-wooThe police chief said, Monday, police officers will stop guarding the private residences of the two former authoritarian-era presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo next year amid growing public calls against the duty. “We plan to reduce police officers guarding their houses by 20 percent this year and withdraw all of them by next year,” National Police Agency Commissioner General Lee Chul-sung said in a press conference.Until last year, 10 close protection agents and 80 police officers were stationed to guard the former presidents and their residences, respectively, but in January, each number decreased to 60 and 5, according to police. The decision came as more Koreans complain of taxpayer money spent on taking care of Chun and Roh _ both of whom were key figures in the 1979 military coup and the 1980 Gwangju massacre that led to a democratic movement. Several civic groups launched an online petition, Thursday, urging the government to stop deploying police officers to protect their residences in Seoul, citing their previous misconduct. Chun and Roh were jailed on charges of treason and briery.As of Monday, more than 12,000 people signed the petition. In response, the police chief said their commitment is in accordance with the law.“The Ministry of Interior and Safety is also sitting on the fence about the issue as they have important information and their personal insecurity may trigger social turmoil,” Lee said.Lee further hinted that police may stop providing close protection agents, as well. “However, I believe it would be right to stop offering guard and security services through a revision of the law if public opinion corresponds with a policy decision.”A relevant law stipulates that a former president can be under the protection of the Presidential Security Service for 15 years after retirement. After that, police take over the duty. In January, independent lawmaker Son Kum-ju proposed a bill that will strip a former president of his or her rights to receive police protection if he or she commits crimes toppling the nation's foundation. Chun and Roh had their post-presidential benefits taken away from them due to their imprisonment in 1997, but they can still receive protective service in accordance with an escape clause.Meanwhile, more than half of Koreans are supportive of the government stopping protecting Chun.According to a Realmeter survey, released Monday, 63.2 percent of respondents opined that police should stop protecting the general-turned-president against 27.4 percent believing it should continue.The local pollster interviewed 501 people nationwide, Friday, and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.

More than 10,000 women, many of them dressed in red as a sign of their anger, protest the authorities' gender-biased handling of hidden camera crimes in Daehangno, Seoul, Saturday. According to the protesters, police investigated the recent leaking of an art class photo, involving a male victim, with speed and thoroughness that had been missing in their handling of cases with female victims. Women account for 80 percent of all hidden camera crime victims. / Yonhap

Prosecutor Ahn Mee-hyun speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday, calling for a thorough investigation of allegations that Prosecutor-General Moon Moo-il put undue pressure on investigators looking into a hiring scandal at Kangwon Land linked to an opposition lawmaker. Ahn claimed Moon berated the prosecution's plan to summon Rep. Kwon Seong-dong of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party in December. Kwon is a prosecutor-turned-politician. / Yonhap

KB Kookmin Bank's director of its small- and medium-size enterprise division Kim Nam-il, second from left, poses with a CEO of a GM Korea subcontractor, left, at the subcontractor's office in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, Monday. The bank said it will provide various financial programs to support GM Korea's subcontractors in the region. / Courtesy of KB

Financial Supervisory Service head Kim Ki-sik answers reporters' questions on his way to the regulatory agency office in Seoul, Monday. Kim allegedly went on multiple paid overseas trips sponsored by public agencies, including the Korea Exchange and Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, while he was serving as a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee. Kim claimed he did not spend taxpayers' money extravagantly, but criticism is mounting as it turns out he took a female intern on a 10-day trip to the U.S. and Europe in 2015. / Yonhap

New Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung speaks during his inauguration ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Seoul, Friday. He is the 51st chief of the lender, succeeding Lee Kwang-goo. / Courtesy of Woori Bank

Members of the Ambassadors Spouses Association in Seoul (ASAS) pose at the Everland theme park rose garden in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. Including the ASAS chief Konul Teymurova, the wife of Azerbaijani Ambassador to Korea Ramzi Teymurov, wives of 12 ambassadors to Korea enjoyed the garden made up of 1 million roses. / Yonhap

Shinhan Financial Group employees in Vietnam pose after conducting volunteer activities. The group said Tuesday its employees in 23 overseas branches including Vietnam, China and India conducted volunteer activities on May 19. Volunteers helped the school commutes of Vietnamese children by donating bicycles, donated e-books to disabled people in India, and supported Chinese patients suffering from rare diseases. / Courtesy of Shinhan Financial Group

Models promote various desk fans at E-mart's Seongsu branch in Seoul, Monday. The discount chain said it began selling the Crane LED Desk Lamp with Bladeless Fan for 49,800 won ($45) and the Doshisha Twin Desk Fan for 44,800 won. / Courtesy of E-mart

Hyundai Motor's vehicles are on display in front of BEXCO in Busan, the host city of the 53rd annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB). The nation's leading carmaker said Sunday it will provide 177 vehicles for the five-day event starting today. / Courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Korea’s delegation to the PyeongChang Olympic Games bow during “charye,” a ritual ceremony held on Lunar New Year’s Day, at the Team Korea House in Gangneung Olympic Park, Gangwon Province, Friday. / Yonhap

Min Byoung-chul, chairman of the Sunfull Foundation, speaks during an event to deliver the PyeongChang Joint Statement for Peace, wishing for Peace on the Korean Peninsula and the successful hosting of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. Tim Wright, second from left, and Tilman Ruff, fourth from left, respectively representing the 2017 and 1985 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), also participated in the event. They are visiting Korea to announce a message for peace ahead of the Games. / Courtesy of Sunfull Movement

The Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin, left, answers questions after receiving the special prize during the 2017 Cho-A Pharmaceutical Awards for professional baseball players at Seoul Plaza Hotel, Wednesday. Former Samsung Lions slugger Lee Seung-yuop, right, was also honored during the ceremony. The pharmaceutical company presented awards for players in 17 categories, including Pitcher of the Year, during the ceremony. / Yonhap

Participants in the 470th Turtle Marathon pose at the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress after finishing the walkathon, Saturday. The Hankook Ilbo, a sister paper of The Korea Times, hosted the monthly event. Participants included Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jun-hee, fourth from right, Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, sixth from right, and Kim Jin-kwan, chairman of the Suwon City Council, left. / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon

Participants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon, held by Hankook Ilbo at Baekbeom Square in Namsan Park on Mount Nam in Jung-gu, Seoul, April 21, raise their hands to answer questions by the event's MC. In the monthly event, the daily campaigned for clean "beautiful" local elections held nationwide in June. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulParticipants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon sign up to join the event. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulAmong the VIPs of the 473rd Turtle Marathon, Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jun-hee stands up to be introduced to the participants. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulMiss Korea beauty pageant winners demonstrate a warm-up workout in front of the participants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulParticipants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon, including Chairperson of the National Election Commission Kwon Soon-il and Hankook Ilbo President Lee Jun-hee, get ready to start the walkathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulChairperson of the National Election Commission Kwon Soon-il strikes a gong to signal the walkathon's start for the 473rd Turtle Marathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulWith a female participant raising a banner that reads "Beautiful Election Happy Neighborhood," participants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon start the walkathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulChairperson of the National Election Commission Kwon Soon-il joins the crowd participating in the 473rd Turtle Marathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulOne of the participants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon gives his pet dog water during the walkathon. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulParticipants of the 473rd Turtle Marathon wait in line to receive giveaways. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Venerable Seol Jeong receives a bouquet of flowers after being elected 35th executive chief of the Buddhist Jogye Order at the Jogye Temple, Wednesday. Ven. Seol, 75, received 234 votes out of 319 in the election held last month. He will lead the order for the next four years. / Yonhap

Participants of the Korea CQ Forum, hosted by the Corea Image Communication Institute (CICI), pose after hearing a lecture by Lee Ho-soo, the president of SK Telecom’s ICT strategy department, on the topic “ICT Issues in 2017” at the residence of Danish Ambassador to Korea Thomas Lehmann. From bottom left are Chairman of DI Corporation Park Won-ho, the spouse of Turkish Ambassador Pinar Okcal; President of CICI Choi Jung-wha; Lee; and the Danish Ambassador. / Courtesy of CICI

Miss Korea 2017 winner Seo Jae-won, 21, smiles after her victory in the annual beauty pageant at the Universal Arts Center, in Neung-dong, Seoul, Friday. The annual contest was hosted by the Hankook Ilbo, the sister paper of The Korea Times / Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon

Pianist Sunwoo Yekwon won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition at Fort Worth, Texas, Sunday. The 28-year old became the first South Korean to win the Van Cliburn’s Winner’s Cup since the competition was first held in 1962. He performed Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81 and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 in his final rounds of the competition. Kenneth Brosberg, 23, and Daniel Hsu 19, from the U.S. took the Silver and Bronze Medals. / Yonhap

British director Gareth Edwards, right, stands with Mexican actor Diego Luna, left, and British actress Felicity Jones during a press conference for the film “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in Tokyo, Wednesday. The film will be released in movie theaters across Japan, Dec. 16. / EPA-Yonhap